


I'll Be Home For Christmas

by WanderingAlice



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas, M/M, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 11:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2771003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingAlice/pseuds/WanderingAlice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern-Day AU. Steve’s deployed in the middle east, and hasn’t been home for Christmas the past two years. This year, he plans to surprise his husband, Bucky, with a little help from his friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Be Home For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> This is for all of the people, armed forces and foreign service, who can't be home for whatever holiday they celebrate this winter, and for the families of all of us who are so far away from home.
> 
> I should probably mention that this was written on the way back to my site over a couple hours. But I had fun writing it, so I hope you have some fun reading it. Please enjoy, and thanks for reading!

There wasn’t anyone to meet Steve at the airport except Clint. That was by design- after all, if Steve wanted to keep his homecoming a secret from Bucky, it kind of had to be a secret from almost everyone else too- or they at least had to act like it. That meant no welcoming party, even though he’d been away for more than two years. Tony had been the most vocal in his annoyance, but Steve had stood his ground. He wanted to surprise Bucky. Christmas was their most important holiday as a family, and he’d been away for the last two. When he’d told Bucky he’d be gone for this one too- he’d been scheduled to end his deployment in September, but then the whole ISIS thing happened, and Steve’s unit had received orders that lengthened their tour for another six months- his husband had tried to hide his disappointment, but Steve could tell how much it hurt him to know he’d be spending this holiday alone too. So Steve had started a campaign to get his unit home by Christmas. It had taken a lot of work, and intervention from Tony and Natasha on their behalf, but finally he’d gotten permission to bring his boys home. On December 28th. Steve had accepted that as the best he could do, but his team knew him even better than he had thought, and they went behind his back to get him home a few days earlier. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but they’d assured him they’d be fine without him for four days. So here he was, standing on the curb at the airport on Christmas Eve.

Clint pulled up to the curb in an extravagant sports car. When Steve raised an eyebrow, he just shrugged and said “Tony.” That was enough explanation- Tony liked to give expensive things to his friends. Steve dumped his pack in the trunk and climbed in.

“Thanks for coming to get me. How’s Bucky? Does he suspect anything?”

Clint grinned. “Nope. Natasha’s been with him all day, and the boss is keeping him busy. He thinks Fury’s dumping make-work on him to keep him from missing you.”

“Nat got _Fury_ to help? Wow.” Steve was impressed. He’d never even thought to ask Director Fury for anything. Sure, the guy was Bucky’s boss, and trying like hell to recruit Steve and his team, but Steve hadn’t even considered he’d be willing to assist in surprising Bucky for Christmas. The guy was a notorious tight-ass, and it was reported that nobody still living had ever seen him smile. That he was helping was surprising, but then, Natasha was good at pulling off impossible things. There was certainly something to be said for having a CIA operative as a best friend. Especially when your husband was also in the CIA.

“Actually, I think it was Tony. He threatened to pull his funding if Fury didn’t help out. Since he’s one of the Agency’s biggest private funders as well as their most brilliant inventor, it was kind of a massive threat. I guess Fury thought letting you surprise your boy was worth it.”

Steve whistled. “Remind me to thank Tony somehow.”

“Just convince Bucky to let him upgrade his arm once it all heals up,” Clint suggested. “He’s been driving me and Nat crazy with all the plans he comes up with. Bucky completely forbid him from talking to him about it after he started going on about guns wired up to his brain.”

Steve laughed. “Only if he lets me review the plans first. Speaking of, any changes in our plan?”

“None that I know of,” Clint told him. “Nat’s gonna keep Bucky at work until we get there. He’s writing up reports on the recruits he’s been training as snipers, but if he finishes that, she’s going to pull him into a meeting to plan the agency’s holiday party. Nat or Tony’ll let us in when we get there. Then you just do your thing. One request though- keep the kissing to a minimum? Nobody wants a repeat of the last time you came home. I thought we were gonna have to pry you two apart.”

“No promises,” Steve said. “It’s been two years,” he reminded his friend.

 

Two years. Two _fucking_ years. And now maybe months more. Sure, Steve was trying to get the Commandos home sooner, but in all likelyhood they’d be kept over in Iraq fighting ISIS or ISIL or whatever the hell they were calling themselves now for another two years. It would be different if Bucky were back in the field, but after an unfortunate incident with a Russian intelligence agency he’d been minus one arm and restricted to a desk until the experimental prosthetic Tony had cooked up for him cleared all the exams. The only reason there was even a _chance_ he’d be able to go on missions again was because he was the CIA’s best operative. They’d spent years trying to lure him away from the Army. At first he’d refused, preferring to stay with Steve and his unit. Then he’d gone against orders to save Steve’s life one too many times, and the CIA had threatened to reveal what they knew about their relationship unless he joined them. That had been before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell had been repealed, and Bucky wasn’t about to risk Steve’s career. He’d given in. It had taken Steve a few months to forgive Natasha (the agent in charge of recruiting Bucky) for that, but eventually he’d calmed down. Especially when Bucky was given a lot of missions as support for the Howling Commandos. Next on the list for the CIA was getting Steve and his unit. That was no surprise- even the SEALS wanted to train with the Commandos- but Bucky knew Steve. He wouldn’t leave the Army unless there was no other choice.

The repeal of DADT had been a blessing for Steve and Bucky. They’d been one of the first couples to get married. After years of hiding, it had been strange to be out in the open, to wear their wedding rings in public and attend events as a couple. But every time Bucky looked over and saw Steve’s brilliant smile, it made everything worth it. Finally, Steve was his, and everybody knew it. Unfortunately, they’d had precious little time together as husband and husband. Steve had been deployed only six months after the wedding, and aside for an occasional visit when Bucky was on a mission, and brief leave in between tours, they hadn’t had more than a few days together in two years. The sole exception had been when Steve’s whole unit had gone AWOL to rescue Bucky, and Steve had gotten three weeks of leave to stay by his side in the hospital. Bucky had been unconscious for most of it, and that had been over a year ago. They hadn’t seen each other since then.

The hardest time to be separated was at Christmas. Since they’d been kids in the orphanage together, Christmas had been their special day. They’d first started dating on one Christmas, over ten years ago now. They’d been married on Christmas too. Fifteen years of Christmases together, first as friends and then as lovers, had accustomed Bucky to waking up to Steve on Christmas morning, seeing his beautiful smile. Their first holiday apart, Bucky had spent curled around a bottle in their apartment. Last year, Natasha had dragged him out to a party and then forced him to spend the evening at Tony’s place. Tony had been a great distraction, and Pepper and Bruce had been good company. But he wasn’t looking forward to a repeat this year. He wanted Steve home. And Steve should have been home. Except those damn terrorists had started up again, and Steve felt duty bound to do what he could. On his better days, Bucky understood. But today wasn’t a better day. Today, he was bitter as hell. He missed his husband. He wanted him _home_.

There. He was done with the paperwork. Make-work, really. Stuff Fury had thrown at him at the last minute to keep him busy. Damn nosy director. It was his fault Bucky wasn’t with Steve right now. If he hadn’t recruited Bucky, they’d both be on deployment. It wouldn’t have been the same as being home for Christmas, but at least they would have been together. Fuck it. Bucky was done with his work. He was going home, where at least he could wallow in his misery in peace.

“James!” Natasha appeared at his shoulder. Bucky made a face. No matter how many times he told her not to call him James, she persisted. He couldn’t even get her to call him Barnes, which was marginally better. “You’re done with those reports? Good. Tony wants us in a meeting.”

“Not today, Nat. I’m off.” Bucky reached for his coat, only to have his hand smacked away.

“Nope. Come on. We’re planning the annual holiday party. Or do you want to let Tony decide everything again this year?” Natasha smacked his hand again when he tried a second time for his coat. “Seriously. Remember last year? The vodka luge? The strippers?”

Bucky groaned. “We’re not talking about the strippers.”

“Good. Then come on.” Bucky looked at Natasha’s face and calculated his chances of getting away. She stared at him intently. It was her mission expression. Yeah, no way he was gonna be able to sneak out. Damn.

“Fine.” He glared at Natasha. “But I’m not gonna help.”

“Fine,” Natasha echoed. “Just come on.” Then she stood and watched him until he accompanied her down the hall to the meeting room.

The meeting room was full of people. Everybody who wasn’t out on leave already or on a mission was crammed around the long table, where Tony presided. Bucky chose a chair by the door, half hoping he’d be able to slip out the minute Natasha was distracted, only to be guided to a seat by Tony with his back to the door and half a room between him and escape. To make matters worse, somebody started playing Christmas music. Steve loved Christmas music, to the point where Bucky had to ban him from playing it in the house until the day after Thanksgiving. Until his dying day, Bucky would associate Christmas music with Steve. Without a real distraction, Bucky sank further down into misery. To keep his mind busy, Bucky started naming the people who were there. There was Pepper, standing at Tony’s elbow. Director Fury was across the table from them, watching the room with his usual disapproving eye. Natasha was watching Bucky from Fury’s side, making sure he didn’t slink away at the first chance. There were a few other people he knew, Agent Coulson and his team, and there was Clint’s trainee… but no Clint. Maybe he was out on a mission? It would have had to be something last minute, because just this morning he’d been joking with Natasha about dragging Bucky out to dinner with them that night. Another oddity, there was Sam Wilson. He wasn’t CIA, he was Airforce, though he’d run some covert missions with Steve before. And Bruce Banner, the doctor helping Tony with his arm. And Thor, one of Tony and Steve’s friends. Bucky didn’t know him that well, but he sure as hell didn’t think there was a reason for _him_ to be helping plan the CIA holiday party.

The song on the radio ended, and Bucky closed his eyes when the opening chords of The Little Drummer Boy started playing. Some pop star had done a version of it, and the radio was playing it all the time. Which sucked for Bucky, because The Little Drummer Boy was Steve’s favorite Christmas song. He was hit by a wave of misery, missing Steve so much it hurt. Fucking hell, why couldn’t he come home for the holidays like most people? What people didn’t realize was that, yeah, the men and women in the armed services sacrifice much for their country, but their families have to give up a whole lot too. Right at that moment, the only thing Bucky wanted for Christmas, in the whole entire universe, was the one thing he couldn’t have- his husband standing by his side.

“Sorry we’re late,” the door opened behind Bucky, and Clint made his way into the room. It sounded like there was someone with him. Probably another agent. Nobody Bucky was interested in. He didn’t turn around.“Traffic was hell.”

Natasha smirked and went to him, and Bucky focused his gaze on the table. He _really_ didn’t want to see Nat kissing her boyfriend, not when he couldn’t kiss Steve. A few people cat-called, a few others started to make jokes at Clint’s expense. Then everyone fell silent. Bucky raised his eyes, and saw the other agents in the room staring at him intently. He glared back, confused. Tony was grinning like an idiot at something over Bucky’s shoulder, so Bucky turned to look, and froze. Because it wasn’t an agent standing next to Clint. It was-

“Steve?” Bucky reached out, only to hesitate, certain he was seeing things.

“Hey, Buck,” Steve just smiled at him, and opened his arms for a hug. Bucky launched himself across the room, slamming into Steve’s chest at full force, pushing him back a step, into the door. Then Steve’s strong arms were wrapped around him, pulling him close, and he let out what sounded like a strangled sob before crushing their mouths together. The most intense feeling of joy coursed through Bucky as he clung with all his strength to his husband. He was there. He was real. He was _home_.

At last, the hooting and ribald comments from the onlookers drew Bucky back to reality, and he pulled away from Steve’s lips reluctantly. Clint and Natasha were standing next to them, grinning. Neither one looked surprised. Neither did Tony for that matter, or Pepper. Fury never gave away his emotions, but Bucky was willing to bet he had expected this as well.

“You _bastard_ ,” Bucky accused his husband. “You complete _bastard_. And you!” He pointed at Clint and Nat and Tony. “You knew. You knew he was coming home and didn’t tell me. You all knew.”

“I threatened them with poison if they told you,” Natasha confessed. “We wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I didn’t know it had been approved until two days ago,” Steve told him, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s waist and leaning down to rest his chin on Bucky’s shoulder to murmur in his ear. “I knew there was a chance last month, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I was sure.”

“You should have told me!” To his shame, Bucky felt his eyes filling with tears. Happy tears, but tears all the same. To hide them, Bucky turned back to glare at Steve. It wasn’t a very convincing glare, because for some reason he couldn’t stop smiling. “I thought you weren’t coming home. For the third year in a row.”

“I’m sorry, Buck. Really. But I’m home now. And I’m staying.”

People started filtering out of the room without Bucky or Steve noticing, leaving them alone for their reunion. Natasha was the last one out, and she stationed herself against the door, a physical barrier between Steve and Bucky and anyone who might interrupt them.

Bucky’s voice cracked as he asked “You don’t have to go back?”

“Nope,” Steve shook his head. “The tour’s over, and it doesn’t look like they’ll want us again any time soon- the president is trying to keep our troops as much out of this war as possible. So it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

“Good,” Bucky told him, and claimed another kiss. “Because I don’t think I’m letting you out of my sight for a very long time.”

 

It was a _very_ long time before either man exited the meeting room, and when they did Steve’s shirt was missing a few buttons and Bucky’s pants had acquired a few new rips that needed to be mended. Everyone else pretended not to see- not that Steve or Bucky cared, they were in their own little world. They went home, where Clint had spent the morning pulling out the decorations Bucky had hidden last year and putting them up, to sit by the fire with mugs of hot chocolate while Steve’s favorite Christmas movies played on TV. They couldn’t tell you what they watched, though, and the hot chocolate was cold before they got around to drinking it. But that was just fine for Steve and Bucky, because for the first time in a long while, they were together again. Home for Christmas.


End file.
